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Free power to the people

Tours of environmentally friendly Westside homes to show advantages of using solar energy

Jeff Adler
Westside Weekly

The National Weather Service estimates that the sun shines over Los Angeles nearly 75% of the days of the year, but the city Department of Water and Power says fewer than 50 of the more than 1.3 million homes it services use solar panels for electricity.

Despite the gloomy response to solar power, some have harnessed the most abundant of Southern California's resources to their advantage.

Environmental designer Casey Coates Danson of Brentwood uses the sun to power everything from her computer to the "infinity" pool that seemingly flows off the precipice upon which her Mandeville Canyon home is perched.

And while Danson's quarters remain off-limits to the public the rest of the year, Westside residents will have a chance to check out her 100% solar powered house and other environmentally conscious residences Saturday and Sunday as part of "Solar Homes/Homes for the Future 2000: A Tour of Sustainable Living in Southern California."

Coates' Brentwood-based Global Possibilities worked together with Los Feliz-based Eco-Home Network to organize the tour, which is being held in conjunction with the American Solar Energy Society's National Tour of Solar Homes. Saturday's tour will include two Venice homes and one in Santa Monica, along with Danson's cliff-side residence.

As founder of Global Possibilities, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting the use of solar and renewable energy, Danson led by example when she designed her environmentally friendly home.

The largest solar installation in Los Angeles, the residence faces east to west to allow as much sunlight as possible to fill the spacious rooms and lofty ceilings. The design is so effective, Danson said, that she rarely turns on any lights until after dark.

The electricity powering those lights is garnered from the sun by photovoltaic cells that line south-facing portions of the roof. The cells gather energy during daylight and store it in batteries for future use.

One advantage of having her own energy source, Danson said, is that if an earthquake or blackout occurs, her home will not lose power. But more important, it allows her to enjoy modern amenities without "spewing fossil fuels into the air," Danson said.

He maintains, however, that solar power is actually less expensive in the long run. " Basically, you're paying for your photoelectric system up front," Johanson said. "It's a little scary, but . . . if you could put up the money and know that you could offset your electric bill, it would be a wise financial investment."

To make the transition easier, homeowners new to the world of solar energy now can cut part of the installation costs under a financial incentive program offered by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Robert McKinney, manager of the utility's photovoltaic program.

The five-year buy-down program, which began Sept. 1, pays $3 per watt to customers who install solar photovoltaic systems. If the installed module is made in Los Angeles, the DWP will offer a reimbursement at $5 per watt.

The program is part of an overall plan in which DWP officials hope to see solar energy systems installed on the equivalent of 100,000 home rooftops in Los Angeles by 2010. The figure includes businesses and public facilities and is part of a national goal to have 1 million solar powered homes, DWP officials said.

Johanson said his company usually installs 2,000-watt systems, which cost about $15,000. After the reimbursement, such an installation would cost closer $5,000. Moreover, he said this type of system, which has a lifetime of about 30 years, meets the needs of a home that typically rings up monthly electrical bills of $80 to $100.

In Danson's case, her home actually generates more than enough electricity to meet her needs. The surplus feeds back to the DWP, earning her a financial credit and also supplying power for some of her neighbors.

As for other concerns, Johanson said photovoltaic cells work even on cloudy days and that customers need not worry how long they may stay in one particular home because the solar modules can be removed and reinstalled fairly easily. Johanson, along with city officials and environmentalists, hopes the public will start turning more and more to the sun to power their homes.

At the very least, this weekend's tour aims to demonstrate that living off solar energy is not such a far flung concept.

"The homes show people living with solar sustainably," said Carolyn Ward, managing director of Global Possibilities. "You don't have to sacrifice any of the amenities to live lightly on the Earth."

To learn more about the DWP's solar programs, call (800) GREEN-LA (473-3652).

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